Two detailed surveys were conducted at different times to compare the commissioning and operating performance of substantial industrial plants that were constructed to carry out a various types of production processes. The conclusions clearly showed that the results on plants that involved the handling of bulk solids incurred far more difficulties at the commissioning stage and seldom attained the level of efficiency that was regularly secured with equipment that handled liquids and gasses. In most cases, plants that handled particulate materials took far longer to bring into production and ran further over budget than those dealing with fluids, and that they rarely achieved their full design rating of output. Another finding of some significance was that, despite the considerable advances made in the technology, plants that were built in the 1980's did not measurable show improvements in these respects over plants built in the 1960's. See Appendix.1
There is much evidence that, with a few notable exceptions, this situation still persists.
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